Mutts To Do About Nothing
by UntamableWyldeRaptor
Summary: Peter notices that MJ has been more quiet and standoff-ish than usual. Once he sees the dog collar fall out of her backpack, he starts putting the pieces together. OR: Peter takes MJ to the animal shelter to adopt a dog after hers passed away. One-shot!


_**A/N**_**: In between working on ****_Symbiote_****, I'll be posting a few Spideychelle one-shots, because I need to work on writing stuff that isn't angsty, hehe.**

**You can put a list of PG-13 prompts centered around Peter and MJ in the reviews if you like to see more!**

**Takes place post-Homecoming.**

* * *

Peter usually wasn't an observant person. Sure, he had to be alert on his nightly patrols as Spider-Man, but he could tell something was wrong.

MJ usually called him and Ned losers, nerds or dorks every day when she saw them. But that hadn't happened for a couple of days now.

Instead, she'd sit quietly at lunch, in detention or in class, refusing to look up from her drawings, school books or one she was reading on her own time. Seeing her act so different made Peter somewhat upset.

He had gotten used to her sarcastic comments and banter, so it was odd not hearing that.

Whenever MJ would briefly pause to toy with something in her backpack sprawled out on the table next to her sketchbook, the spider noticed her page was filled with sketches of dogs. Not multiple dog breeds, just a single dog in all different poses.

From the sketches, he noticed it must've been some sort of a terrier mix, very scruffy, usually seen with a tennis ball in its mouth.

Peter hadn't ever seen MJ draw anything other than flowers, and people in a crisis. So seeing a page of her book filled with the sketches of a dog was surprising to say the least.

_BRRRRIIINNNNGGG!_

MJ hastily flipped the cover and other pages of her sketchbook over the series of drawings she had sketched out. While shoving the book into her backpack, a brown dog collar slipped out and onto the floor.

Without thinking, the fifteen year-old vigilante stood up, coppery brown eyes focused on the strap of leather on the cafeteria floor.

"MJ!" He called, stopping to grab the collar from the floor. "MJ, wait up!" He ran after his classmate, managing to catch her before she reached the hallway.

The girl looked a bit annoyed, turning around to face the persistent hero. Her annoyed stare melted into a sadder one when she saw the collar Peter held out to her.

"I saw this fall out of your backpack. So, I, uh, I decided to bring it back to you," Peter explained, a sincere look in his eyes.

"Thanks…" She muttered, taking the collar in her hand. She stuffed it into her jacket pocket. "I… Lost my dog last weekend… That's why I've been carrying his collar around…" She admitted, adjusting the strap of her backpack.

Peter frowned, a nagging feeling of sorrow settling in his stomach. "MJ, I'm so sorry…."

MJ shrugged, trying to keep her nonchalant composure. "It's fine.. Guess I've just missed him for a few days.." A humorless laugh escaped her mouth.

"Have you… Have you thought of adopting another one?" The crime-fighter asked, trying to find the right words to say.

She shrugged again. "My parents talked it over. But I don't know."

They stood there in awkward silence for a while before Peter cleared his throat.

"I'll… I'll see you in chem?" He cocked his head innocently, rubbing the back of his neck.

MJ nodded, the saddened look in her eyes nearly betraying her nonchalant composure. "Yeah. See you around, Parker." She turned on her heel, walking out through the doors, leaving Peter alone with his thoughts.

* * *

MJ, in truth, shouldn't have been surprised when Peter pretended to fall asleep in class, which landed him thirty minutes in detention.

She knew the real truth. Peter wanted to comfort her because of her dog dying.

Or he had another plan. She didn't know.

When she saw Peter sitting inside the detention classroom, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement before sitting down in the seat next to his.

She didn't say a word to him. Instead, she despondently pulled out her sketchbook, starting to doodle her recently deceased pet.

"MJ." Peter's voice was soft, but also laced with hope and concern. "MJ."

Quirking an eyebrow at him, MJ lifted her head from her drawing. "What, loser?" She asked, voice low.

"I… I hope you won't kill me for this…. But I wanted to take you to the animals shelter this weekend." Peter's muscles tensed under his sweatshirt, anxiety riddled in his voice. What would she say? Would she say "yes"? No?

"Why?"

Oh. He didn't see that one coming.

Peter felt his face burn from embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck. "W-well, I could tell you miss your dog a lot, and, uh, I wanted to see if you could get another one?" His pathetic excuse of a response came out more of a question than anything.

MJ tapped her blue pen against the desk table. She felt a pang of sadness hit her, as Peter's offer reminded her of her dog. "Yeah… As long as my parents say that it's okay."

She felt her heart rate pick up when Peter visibly relaxed, his no longer tense muscles showing ever so slightly through his shirt- courtesy of the spider that bit him.

"That's… That's good…" He smiled at her, resting his chin on his arms, which were folded and rested on the desk table. When he was caught staring, his copper brown eyes darted away, feet shifting anxiously under his desk.

MJ smiled a half smile at him, somewhat touched that he cared so much about her losing her dog. Or cared about her. She couldn't tell. Maybe it was both?

If Peter pretended to fall asleep in class, then he obviously cared about her. Right?

Her thoughts jumbled around in her head. Her dog wasn't the only person she ended up drawing that day.

* * *

The deafening sound of barking could be heard all the way from the parking lot outside the animal shelter, as Peter and MJ casually walked inside.

Their hands brushed momentarily, making them instantly step a fragment of an inch away from each other.

MJ looked over at Peter, who stuffed his hands into his grey zip-up hoodie's pockets, a navy blue NASA shirt peeking out from the partially unzipped top. "Hey."

The spider looked over at her, chocolate brown eyes widening from embarrassment. He instantly rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "H-hey.."

"Thanks for taking me here, nerd." She playfully slugged him in the shoulder, as the automatic doors to the building slid open.

Peter laughed softly, clearly flustered. "Y-you're welcome.."

The employee at the front desk noisily popped her gum, leaned back in her office chair, feet propped up on the desk behind the countertop.

The crime-fighting teenager cleared his throat. "Uhm, excuse me? We'd like to come and look at the shelter animals.."

The bored-looking employee looked up, her half-lidded olive eyes focusing on Peter's small, shy smile. With an irritated sigh, she removed her feet from her desk, standing up from her chair. She pushed open the front desk entrance gate. "Hurry up, kid, I don't got all day."

The two teenagers scurried into the back room, not wanting to take the risk of seeing the employee more annoyed than she already was.

Dogs on either side of the long corridor barked and jumped around excitedly, or simply snoozed in their cots inside the tiny rooms they were confined to. The entire room stank of dog, which both Peter and MJ were okay with.

Peter had rescued plenty of dogs on patrols as Spider-Man from being hit by cars or abused by riff-raffs on the streets, and MJ owned a dog for who-knows-how-long.

They passed many canines that bounced and barked excitedly when they saw them

"I'm glad I talked my parents into coming here," MJ mumbled, looking to and fro at all the different dogs. None of them seem to...click like how her old dog had with her.

Until she saw the black shepherd dog at the very back of the room.

The dog was lying with its back facing the glass door, almost as if it were asleep. A freshly healed, circular scar was noticeable on its shoulder.

Peter and MJ both looked at each other at the same time before looking away sharply.

The girl confidently strode up to the glass door, crouching down to get a better view of the dog, while the teenage vigilante stared at it from behind.

"I'm surprised. No one comes over here to see this girl," the manager said, walking up to the two.

MJ stood to her full height, staring up at the manager with Peter by her side.

"Poor thing was caught in a burglary a few months back. Intruder shot her in the shoulder," the manager explained. "Her owners didn't make it, and there was no one to take care of her, so she was brought here."

"Poor dog… That must've been hard for her…" Peter frowned, feeling guilty that he-that Spider-Man-didn't show up to protect her family.

MJ looked back at the dog, eyebrows knitted together. "Could I possibly see her?"

The manager nodded, stepping up towards the dog's cage. He unlocked the glass door, making the animal look up with bright hazel eyes.

MJ looked back at Peter who gestured to the dog with his head.

It was okay. She could go in.

The girl watched as the manager slipped a leash around the dog's neck, leading her outside. "If you both will follow me this way."

Both teenagers followed after the manager, the dog ignoring the barking and lunging from the other dogs that spotted her.

The man opened a door leading into a sunroom with fake grass, toys, and a large water dish. The visiting room. He removed the leash loop from the black shepherd's neck, giving her the freedom to run around.

"She may be a bit shy, so be gentle with her," he advised, closing the door behind the two fifteen year-olds.

MJ promptly sat down on the fake grass, legs crossed, eyes firmly trained on the dog roaming around.

Peter watched his friend-was she his friend?-sit down and followed her lead, one leg tucked up to his chest, the other stretched out in front of him.

The ebony canine's ears pricked when she witnessed the two kids sit down, calmly observing her. She looked to be pretty young. She couldn't be more than a year old.

Slowly, very slowly, she padded towards MJ and Peter. She cocked her head before lowering herself to the ground.

"She's got a little white spot on her nose," Peter pointed out, gently holding his hand out for the dog to sniff it.

She pressed her nose against his palm before licking it, making him smile.

MJ gently pet the dog's back, watching her tail wag a tiny bit. "I think I'll take this one."

Peter gently scratched the dog behind her ears. "She seems like a good dog."

"Maybe your eight eyes and legs aren't so scary after all," MJ said nonchalantly, hugging the dog when she stood up to nuzzle her face.

Peter laughed before blinking. "Wait. What?"

His classmate didn't respond. She stood up, gently patting her thigh for the dog to follow her. She walked towards the door, leaving the spider alone to gather himself up.

He stood up, brushing black dog hairs from his hoodie and pants. His coppery eyes focused on MJ, who slipped the leash around the dog's neck, smiling a genuine smile when the animal's tail wagged.

Despite the initial shock he was hit with when she indirectly called him a spider, Peter smiled. He hadn't seen MJ this happy before. He walked towards her, the door being propped open by a door stop.

SLAM!

Peter jerked back in surprise, hands instantly covering his nose when he collided with the wall. He quickly glanced at MJ before chuckling nervously. "I-I-I hit the...thingy…" He quickly walked off, face beet red, heading down the route they had just taken to the visiting room.

MJ rolled her eyes, smiling a bit more. She looked down at the door, who looked up at her, tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth.

How she got blessed with such a dorky, kind and sincere decathlon teammate, she didn't know. She was just thankful Peter had the guts to come up and ask her straightforwardly about coming to the shelter.

Then she wouldn't have met her new four-legged companion that would most certainly help her heal.

* * *

_**A/N**_**: The idea of MJ owning a dog in my two _Spider-Man_ fanfics was one of my favorite ideas, so I _had_ to come up with a one-shot partially centered around it.**

**I hope you like the story, and please leave your prompt ideas in the reviews!**


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